Annalee Newitz, Author at Gizmodo

The mysterious life and death of scifi author F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre

He published witty books and short stories in top scifi magazines. But he also lived under several aliases, kidnapped and tortured a neighbor, and finally burned himself to death in his tiny Brooklyn apartment. Who was F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre? There’s a fantastic article in the New York Times about the life of the acerbic writer,…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 13

Deal with office politics Terminator-style, with this rubber band Gatling gun

One of the things you never hear about in corporate dystopia stories is how office supplies are going to be weaponized. Luckily, some gun geeks have rectified this problem, by inventing a $500 automatic weapon that shoots rubber bands. According to the seller: The rubber band gun can hold over 100 rubber bands and shoots…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 13

Caption this picture and win a free copy of William Gibson’s “Zero History”

We’ve got 9 copies of William Gibson’s new novel Zero History to give away. Want one? Then write the most Gibsonian caption you can for this image. Here are the rules: Your caption can be no longer than two sentences. It should be in a Gibsonian style. Post it in comments below to win. To…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 13

Custom superhero Converse help your feet triumph over evil

I love the way these custom Converse manage to mix a vintage hightop look with vintage imagery from DC Comics. Those Wonder Woman sneaks are my new fetish object. According to RobotSumi: DC Comics is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, DC and Converse collaborated some custom Chuck Taylors featuring…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 13

She’d packed quickly, bringing only her bird-shaped head, which kept falling off

Traveling is hard enough without having to worry about bringing an extra head. But that’s exactly what she had to do, especially after realizing the bird head really didn’t fit her neck plug very well. These weird and beautiful illustrations of women with animal heads are the work of Ernie and Cassandra Velasco. Together they…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 13

“Resident Evil: Afterlife” is the clone baby of “The Matrix” and “Blade II”

Resident Evil: Afterlife is the perfect example of a generic B-movie with girls, guns, and ghouls. But the flick owes its style and plot to so many other franchises that it achieves a kind of sublime, meta-cheese status. If you’re after a plot that goes beyond a gun-toting team climbing from level to level, zooming…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 13

William Gibson reveals a “secret experiment” in his Bridge Trilogy, and ponders A.I.

Yesterday I sat down with William Gibson to talk about his new novel, Zero History. We talked about his fascination with fashion, the military, and stories about the present. He also revealed a secret about his Bridge Trilogy. In the video above, you can see Gibson talking about writing novels set in the present day.…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 10

A future soldier deals with PTSD in space

In emotional short film Stasis, featuring Beau Bridges and Reshad Strik, a soldier who suffered a terrible trauma on a frozen world must relive the horror until he remembers what really happened. It’s riveting. STASIS Filmmaker Christian Swegal wrote in to tell us about the movie, which he said was done almost entirely with volunteer…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 10

Join your fellow io9ers on Digg!

Now you can get all your io9 news right from the infospouts of Digg, just by becoming a follower of io9. Join the growing army of brain-implanted space scouts! Once you click “follow” on the io9 Digg page, you’ll get alerts when one of our stories is submitted and you can choose to Digg it…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 10

“Resident Evil” director Paul W.S. Anderson tells us what female action heroes can do that men can’t

Now we know what happens to people who grow up watching the Die Hard series alongside the films of Jean-Luc Goddard. Resident Evil: Afterlife (filmed in 3D!) comes out today.

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 10

Ancient, abandoned Great Wall of Peru ringed an elaborate stone city

Kuelap, in Peru, boasts an ancient mountain fortress surrounded by a massive stone wall. It’s at the center of a once-thriving metropolis, abandoned half a millennium ago. The stone ruin remains a mystery – but now you can visit it. According Atlas Obscura: Kuelap, a mountaintop fortress city, rivals any ruins in the new world…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 10

Major breakthrough in tractor beam technology

It’s now possible to move a tiny bead of glass (pictured) five feet using just laser beams. We may not be tractor-beaming humans into spaceships yet, but this is a huge step forward for a technology once called science fictional. For years, scientists have been using “light tweezers,” or lasers, to move bacteria short distances.…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

100 years ago, the New York Times predicted cars would be abolished today

Back in 1909, a fanciful New York Times journalist decided to spice things up by pretending to describe a futuristic 2009 “centennial celebration.” His portrait of future NYC is surprisingly eco-conscious and pedestrian-friendly. Thanks to pulp history scholar Jess Nevins, we’ve got access to a transcribed version of this story, written by mystery writer and…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

Naomi Novik says fanfic is part of literary history – and reveals what’s next for Temeraire

Author Naomi Novik recently published Tongues of Serpents, the sixth book her Temeraire series. We talked to her about what’s next for her dragons-in-the-Napoleonic Wars alternate history, as well as her passion for preserving fanfic online. Best known for her beloved Temeraire series – which Peter Jackson has vowed to turn into a miniseries –…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

New io9 comment feature helps moderators give you feedback on your comments

We do our best to keep our site’s comments troll- and abuse-free, but there’s always room for improvement. Our new comment reassignment feature allows your comment moderators to dole out warnings and suspensions, and explain why they did so. The system works like this: If we see a comment that we don’t think belongs in…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

One notable difference between “The Last Exorcism” and “The Exorcist”

Classic 1970s movie The Exorcist and new horror hit The Last Exorcism both feature reluctant exorcists dealing with crazy teenage girls. But there’s one key difference between the movies that reveals how America has changed since 1972. In The Last Exorcism, the “evil” comes from the heart of Louisiana. In this clip you can see…

Movies Annalee Newitz Sep 9

RoboCop’s secret fourth directive is in fact related to unicorns

If you need a really awesome shirt that will impress pretty much everybody, then your search is over. For just $20, you could be the proud owner of this “RoboCop on a unicorn” tee. Designed by Olly Moss, this is a look for the ages. Pick up the tee via Go Ape Shirts

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 9

Will the cinematic history of the 20th century be destroyed by fungus?

A lot of twentieth century history and culture is preserved on film. But in fifty years, this history could be lost. And it’s all because of pernicious microbes that eat away at film, according to a new study. Microbiology researcher Gavin Bingley worked with the British Film Archive to study a problem that their archivists…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 8

The zombie apocalypse ruined my week

Singer-songwriter Kirby Krackle has just released this wistful little video, illustrated by Damon O’Keefe, about how the zombie apocalypse is kind of a bummer. Because it means the internet is always really slow.

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 8

Incandescents go out: GE shuts down its last major lightbulb factory

In Virginia, General Electric is shutting down its last incandescent lightbulb factory, marking the end of an era in American illumination – and factory jobs. Hundreds of workers will be laid off next month when the GE factory shuts its doors. This tragedy reveals the ugly side of technological change. Though the incandescent was the…

io9 Annalee Newitz Sep 8

Annalee Newitz

The mysterious life and death of scifi author F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre

Deal with office politics Terminator-style, with this rubber band Gatling gun

Caption this picture and win a free copy of William Gibson’s “Zero History”

Custom superhero Converse help your feet triumph over evil

She’d packed quickly, bringing only her bird-shaped head, which kept falling off

“Resident Evil: Afterlife” is the clone baby of “The Matrix” and “Blade II”

William Gibson reveals a “secret experiment” in his Bridge Trilogy, and ponders A.I.

A future soldier deals with PTSD in space

Join your fellow io9ers on Digg!

“Resident Evil” director Paul W.S. Anderson tells us what female action heroes can do that men can’t

Ancient, abandoned Great Wall of Peru ringed an elaborate stone city

Major breakthrough in tractor beam technology

100 years ago, the New York Times predicted cars would be abolished today

Naomi Novik says fanfic is part of literary history – and reveals what’s next for Temeraire

New io9 comment feature helps moderators give you feedback on your comments

One notable difference between “The Last Exorcism” and “The Exorcist”

RoboCop’s secret fourth directive is in fact related to unicorns

Will the cinematic history of the 20th century be destroyed by fungus?

The zombie apocalypse ruined my week

Incandescents go out: GE shuts down its last major lightbulb factory

‘She-Hulk’ Was Apparently One of Marvel’s Most Successful Shows

The World’s First Eye-Tracking Smart Glasses Are Intriguing and Unpolished

Noah Hawley Is Remaking ‘Terrified,’ Which Shouldn’t Happen

Unprecedented Observation Reveals 2 Supermassive Black Holes Locked in a Tight Death Spiral

This Apple MacBook Pro Is Now Under $500 After 78% Off, Grade-A Refurb Deal (16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Touch Bar)

Anthropic Launches ‘Project Glasswing’ to Stealthily Spot Cybersecurity Issues for Rivals

Tiny Robots Reveal Hidden Ocean Chemistry in Low-Oxygen Waters

Aunt Lydia Survived ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ to Bring New Complexity to ‘The Testaments’

Scientists Think They’ve Finally Discovered Why Your Cat Never Finishes Its Meal

Artemis 2 Day 7: Follow the Mission With Our Live Updates 🔴

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback